Climate Assembly concludes with discussions on how we travel

Mon 25 May 2020 View all news

Following a final weekend of discussions on transport issues, members of the UK Climate Assembly have concluded their work and are scheduled to give their recommendations in a report to Parliament in July.

The UK Climate Assembly brought together people from all walks of life to discuss how the UK can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. At the Assembly, participants learned about climate change and how the UK can address it, took time for discussion and deliberation, and then made recommendations about what should happen.

In June 2019, six Select Committees of the House of Commons called for a citizens’ assembly to understand public preferences on how the UK should tackle climate change because of the impact these decisions will have on people’s lives. 

Since January, the Assembly has heard views on a range of options for getting to net zero, across themes including how we travel, how we heat our homes and what we buy.

The final weekend saw the group focusing on 'how we travel'. 

The group heard evidence on what should be done to reach net zero by 2050 and how it should be done. Broadly speaking, the evidence covered three main areas for both surface transport and air travel:

  • Measures to avoid greenhouse gas emissions from transport (e.g. to reduce distances that people may need to travel)
  • Measures to shift journeys to less carbon intensive forms of travel (e.g. from cars to public transport, cycling and walking)
  • Measures to improve the emissions performance of vehicles (e.g. shifting to electric vehicles)
  • Speakers also covered alternatives for how emissions can be reduced from surface transport and aviation (e.g. the role of prices and taxes, regulations etc).

The Climate Assembly's final report will act as a valuable body of evidence for all politicians and policy makers on public preferences for how to get to net zero. 

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